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Respond ASAP-new puppy by Luke

ORIGINAL MESSAGE: We are bringing our new Maltese puppy home tonight and it is cold outside, so will the puppy be cold outside as we begin to "potty train" him, or should we find an alternative route to letting him do his business or what? And, can you give me information on upper respiratory problems? PLEASE RESPOND ASAP! THANKS

DISCUSSION:

Luke. I brought Lucy home in mid-December. It was darned cold oustide (and we had a blizzard here about 2 wk later). Through it all, we went outside. Lucy had a little plaid wool coat with sheepskin lining that kept her warm enough to do the few minutes until she pee-peed. I didn't keep her out long at a time and tried hard to keep on a schedule that had her in and out quickly ( that is I tried to pay attention to how long until she needed to do her poop thing, then get her out, let her do it, and get her back in). This worked for us (even in the wee small hours of the very freezing nights). So, if your baby is kept warm enough outdoors, it will be fine. If you really don't want to give this a go, try using wee-wee pads indoors and train the new baby that way. Now that the cold weather is upon us here, I am asking myself why oh why didn't I paper train Ms. Lucy; not because she is cold, but because I am freezing out there!! cathy brown

Luke - you didn't say how old or how big your puppy is. If the puppy is young and you live in a cold climate you might try paper training. If you don't want to keep paper inside, an enclosed garage will work and keep the dog out of the elements. If it is a baby then perhaps by next winter it will have adapted enough to go outside - especially if you can train him to go on command. Can't help you on upper respiratory - best to check with your vet on that one. Vivian

I found the cold weather helpful. When Buster was little, we would take him out in the cold weather (here in Minnesota, it gets real COLD) and repeat "go potty" until he did his business. It was so cold it really made him do his stuff quickly without all that sniffing around and trying to find the right spot etc. He can now go on command which is very helpful, when you want him to go before you leave. We just let him out and say the words, and he gets right to it. Also if you have snow, we shoveled a path the the spot we wanted him to go in, so even in the summer, he still goes in the same spot, in the bark chips that border the fence, so cleanup is real easy in the summer, you don't have to worry about stepping in anything! Good Luck! Patti

I've had four Malteses and I find that none of them wanted to go out when it was cold. They knew they were supposed to, but pouted and wanted to come in to go to the bathroom on the nice warm carpet. I just stay firm with them. I take them out and if they don't go and act cold after a couple of minutes, I bring them back in. After about 5 minutes, they start sniffing around inside. Back outside we go. Same thing--if they don't go right away and act cold, they can come in. I continue this until they realize that they're going to keep going outside until they go to the bathroom. Trust me--they know what's going on and will try to get away with whatever they can! It's easy to forget that you're the owner sometimes! Elaine

Hi Luke, we brought Snowy home in winter too but winter is not too bad here in Sydney, Australia. He was 7 weeks old then and he was feeling the cold. He would try to stand behind a wall everytime a cold gust of wind blows. I was, of course, freezing out there and finally gave up on the outdoors eventhough Snowy caught on very fast. After about a week of outdoor, I started indoor training on wee wee pads. He took on well and was really easy to train. Now he uses both the great outdoors and indoors for all his needs. Sim

Luke, both of my maltese are paper trained and I have not for one day, one hour or one minute regretted it. Whatever the weather, they are always clean, dry and warm. Why not start with paper, then transfer to the outside once the seasons change and your puppy is older. As for respiratory problems, is this something you know the puppy has already? Whatever the case, I'd call a vet. Good luck with your baby! Marie Marie

My Maltese will use the wee-wee pads or go outside, whatever my preference. It really is the best of both worlds! One piece of advice: If you decide on wee-wee pads, make sure your puppy is using them consistently for awhile before teaching him to go outside. Let us know how it goes. April B.

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